Discussion
by Ella Donelly
Summary: Jareth has sent some goblins to bathe some chickens in Sarah's bathroom.  She is none too happy and calls him to discuss a few things with him, not all involving goblins and chickens.


What a Wonderful World

"Jareth!" the enraged 23 – year old woman yelled.

"Yes, Precious?" answered the Goblin King.

The dark haired young woman turned and glared at him with fury in her eyes.

"Care to explain what this is about?" she said, pointing in the direction of her bathroom, which at the moment was in complete disarray. Not only had all her items in there been taken out of the cupboards and drawers, but somehow there were chickens being bathed in the toilet by some less than intelligent goblins.

Feigning interest in something under his nails he answered, "Not in the slightest."

Without looking at her, he stood and walked to her window. He knew his latest bit of trickery would get her excited, which is what he wanted. She never really could think things through when she was frustrated, and she was completely adorable when she was like this.

"Now, Sarah, if there is nothing else I really must be going. I don't have the time to just _pop_ in whenever it suits you. I do have a kingdom to run after all."

"Oh, yes, the mighty Goblin King who must sit on his throne all day while watching his subjects mill around drinking ale and squabbling with each other all day. How do you get by with all you _must_ do on a daily basis? It must be such a burden to have your life!"

He stopped and slowly turned. He had her just where he wanted her; it would now only take a few leading comments to get her to really get angry. Schooling his feature to not let emotion show on his face he casually walked towards her.

"You would be a smart, little human to not insult the fae. We see it as a game when presented with a challenge, a test to one-up the other, you see. If you think you can try to keep up with a fae king be my guest. But I warn you, I do not play fair."

"When have you ever played fair?" she snapped.

"I never said I would play fair. In all the time you have known me what gave you the idea I would ever?"

"When you asked me to be your friend," she said quietly and added, "But I guess that was just another one of your tricks. You didn't want a friend did you?"

He was silent and stared into her eyes. He let his emotion slip for a moment before hiding it once again. He did not reply.

"Answer me! You never wanted a friend, right?"

Still holding her gaze, he answered truthfully, "No, Sarah. I was not fully truthful when we had that conversation."

Friendship was too tame for what he wanted. He wanted a whirlwind romance which would lead to her consenting to being his wife and ruling his kingdom by his side. But now was not the time to bring that up. It would have to wait.

"I knew it. Why did I think I could trust you? 'You are a Lady of the Labyrinth now and we should be friends so it is happy.' I was such a fool to let you into my life again!"

"How so?"

"Well, there was the birthday incident for starters."

Chuckling he asked, "Which one? The one in California where you were with your friend who kept talking about seeing things hiding in the dark and saying they were little things which tripped him – what was his name again?"

"Paul. You know, the lawyer with the fast car and the cute little beach house."

"Yes, Paul. The twit of a fellow," he said with a slight frown on his face.

"And you know what? He had more sense and common decency in one finger than you do in your whole body!" she yelled, pausing only to take a breath, "And that is not the birthday I'm talking about. You know which one I mean."

Pausing to sit on the edge of her bed he continued, "Is this going to be a discussion which is going to take long? If so, you should take a seat. By your tone it appears we won't be going anywhere any time soon."

"Damn right you aren't! You think you can just let your goblins in here to destroy my home and then just leave without taking responsibility for their actions?"

Sighing, he created a crystal sphere and let it roll from his hand to the floor. She could hear it roll down the hall and into the bathroom before a quiet "pop" was heard.

"Satisfied? It is all taken care of so put your mind at rest and say what it is you want to say."

She nodded and sat on the bed, but she left as much distance between them as possible.

Sarah looked at the wall across from her without focusing on anything. She held a reflective look as she thought back to the birthday in question.

"I remember it so well. Zach looked so snazzy in his grey suit, all dressed up. Karen was so excited and Dad was beaming, which made me leaving with him all the more difficult. I knew he had an engagement ring in his pocket. When we arrived at the restaurant he was nervous, it was rather cute. Had it been any other girl she would have been swept away in the whole thing," she said with a soft voice.

Jareth scoffed.

"Dinner at an expensive restaurant? Is that was human women want from men nowadays?"

"Shut up! I don't know what human women want, but I know what I want.

"When we got to our seats I knew something was going on which was not part of his plan. It started with the waiters dropping Zach's dishes on him – your goblins, I'm sure. Then there was the girl selling flowers, when he bought one for me he was cut by a thorn. She swore there were none, and I believed her even if he didn't. Thanks to your magic, she walked away crying because she felt so bad. What was really over the top was when my boss walked by our table."

"Was this when you were the librarian, or was it the bank teller?"

"Bank teller. When he saw the _gift _you gave me he had a complete fit!"

"But it was such a nice gift, a display of trust between two friends."

"I'm sure it was unique as you said, but to anyone who traversed the Labyrinth before would surly know what the symbol on the necklace meant! How could you do that to me? He had a complete melt down in the restaurant! He was throwing food on the floor, dishes at me, had to be physically restrained, and when the cops were there he accused me of kidnapping children!"

"You can't blame me for that. I didn't know he was going to be there."

"It doesn't matter; you knew who he was and I'd see him eventually. And don't you dare try to tell me you didn't know he was my boss," she said glaring at him.

"Well, you didn't need that job anyways. You weren't happy there."

"That is beside the point! You can't interfere with my life. It is mine, and you are not my king."

He turned his body towards her. His eyes cold.

"Are you going to say those words again?"

"What words?"

"You know. And while we are talking about incidents, shall I remind you what you did to my kingdom when you left? Maze marked with lipstick, oubliette was a mess with cleaning supplies, a bridge was broken, and three of my subjects had committed treason. If that wasn't bad enough, my castle was in shambles. I had to stay with Hoggle in his hut until it was fixed. Do you know how uncomfortable that is in his cramped, little cottage?" his voice raised.

"Yes, as I have stayed there a time or two."

"Excuse me?" Jareth said.

Her face now held no sign of anger, instead one of fear. She knew Hoggle would be in trouble and she had to explain how she had gotten there without making him mad.

"Sarah, explain."

She couldn't find any words to explain which wouldn't make him more upset and sat in silence staring at her feet.

"How were you able to get to there?"

Quietly she said, "It is time for you to leave, Jareth. You've done enough damage for one day."

"Do not dismiss me!"

"You have had your fun, and so have your goblins. It is time for you to leave."

He stood defiantly.

"I am not leaving until we finish this conversation. It was you who wanted to have one, and it is not over yet."

"It's nothing which needs to be discussed. I was visiting and he invited me over for tea," Sarah said hoping to brush over his real question: how she got to the Underground in the first place.

"Your play on words is a dangerous game. I will make this easy for you: I will ask you a direct question to which you will answer or else – "

"Or else what? You will leave and never come back? FINE! Your goblins will stop hiding my left shoes in my home? I will manage. You will wipe Toby's memory of that night and me? Good, I can finally get rid of the guilt of wishing him away I've had all these years!"

He was stunned. She felt guilty for wishing her brother away. Very interesting. Why would she feel that way, though? She had won him back, he was not hurt, and they both had their own adventures there. Jareth was at a loss for words.

"Please, just leave!"

"No."

"We really need to discuss some things, and they need to be addressed now."

Exhaling loudly Sarah resigned herself to her fate. There was no way she could get around this.

"I have magic," she said, and for flair she brought up her own crystal and had it dancing over her fingers displaying her trick before him.

He watched her, mesmerized as it danced over her fingers. He did not blink as she tossed it in the air and it changed to a shower of rose petals.

"How long?"

"How long? I assume you mean 'How long have you been able to do magic?' To answer that question plainly, it started that night."

Silence filled the room.

"When my friends left that night I thought of my room clean and no longer in shambles. I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and when I got back _poof_."

"Poof?"

"You know, like magic – poof! Everything was clean and in its place. The next day I was at the library and wished the head librarian was looking for a librarian for the children section, and the next thing I know she offered me a part time job. I thought that was just luck, but when I was in my room that night I wanted to try to test out if it was luck or really magic. I wished for my homework to be done by the time I walked in my room. I held my hand up and a crystal formed. It fell quietly to the floor and clinked up the stairs; when I opened my door, my homework was back in my book bag and it was done."

"So you thought you could keep this from me? Your magic? Your trips to my kingdom?"

"It is not my fault you don't have the power to track who comes and goes, now is it?"

"I do! This is impossible."

"Well, I can assure you it is not. I had a dream once and I know why I have these powers."

His eye brow raised as if asking her to explain.

"Now is not the time to tell you this. But I promise one day I will."

After a few moments, he nodded his head.

"You made a promise to a fae. You are bound by your word to answer."

He saw her nod and he closed his eyes. Surely his headache was going to get worse before he left.

"I was going to say no to him when he asked me that night," Sarah said.

"No?" he asked, clearly confused.

"Zack. That night at dinner, you and I both know he was going to propose. I was going to let him down gently that night."

He walked to the window and smirked. _Zack_ really was ridiculous, and his notion that he could make her happy was silly. He'd watch Zach and then see them together. It was obvious she was superior to him and they'd never be happy.

"He is great, but, I couldn't say yes."

Jareth heard a pop, and found himself back on her bed, but instead of sitting, he was sprawled out on his back, Sarah sitting next to him. She reached forward and brushed the fallen blonde strands from his face.

"Don't worry so much. You are the only one who can live up to my expectations."

She leaned forward and kissed his lips.

Complete disbelief filled his mind as he felt her soft, warm lips against his. She kissed him! Elation filled him as he thought on how long he wanted this and more. He tried to move his hands to wrap his arms around her.

"Not tonight, dear."

"You are a tease."

She chuckled and told him, "I am, aren't I? Well, as our discussion is over –" she paused waiting for him to confirm he agreed; he nodded in response.

"Well, then, the only thing I have left to do is to tell you good night," she said kissing him once more, this time lingering a little bit longer.

When their lips parted, he saw her beautiful smile. He sighed and smiled back at her.

"Oh, and, Jareth, and keep the damn goblins out of my bathroom!" she said snapping her fingers.

The next thing the Goblin King knew he was back in his castle.

"Until next time, my love," he said chuckling, thinking of their first kiss and of all the many more to come.


End file.
